Our Story : The Conflict
by Bautista Jades
Summary: Sequel to Our Story : The Beginning. Percy Jackson is a normal teenager. Well, as normal as you can get when you are currently sailing/flying on a brand new, spanking hot bronze warship to Rome. Except since that 'dream', things changed. Right now, instead of heading to Rome, he is heading to a country in the dystopian future. To help a friend. " This is not what I expected."
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: **_And so….welcome to the sequel of Our Story : The Beginning. Told'cha there'd be a sequel. Nothing is impossible.. ;P so, anyway. Yeah, I got this idea several months ago but my friend advised me not to do it for fear you guys are going to shish-kebab me. But what the heck? I'm gonna take a risk *puts on armor*_

**Disclaimer : **_Anything you do not recognize belong to me. Part of the plot might belong to me. Others go to Rick Riordan and Suzanne Collins. _

* * *

**Prologue**

It's been months since I had that weird dream.

But it wasn't a dream.

It was reality.

If Gaea wins this war, _that _is what going to happen to us.

Well, since if Gaea wins this war, most of mankind would be annihilated and only a few remains. And the few that remains would form a new country called Panem (who names their country after the Latin word for 'bread'?).

Trust me : they don't live happily ever after.

Suppressed beneath a dictator's rule. Tortured for their amusement. Killed for their delight and amusement.

My name is Percy Jackson and I am sixteen-years-old. Recently, while on our way to Rome (as in, _Rome_ in Italy) on our super duper mega trooper awesome-sauce ride, _Argo II, _we got attacked by our 'enemies', the Romans (as in _New Rome _in San Francisco). They're not actually our enemies but a slight accident in New Rome leads to a misunderstanding which leads to what happened recently to our sweet ride.

They nearly destroyed half of the ship (which made Leo mad. Extremely. Mad) and we had to take a rest for a day for Leo to patch things up. Luckily for us, he is a quick repairer so we managed to escape from the clutches of some Underworld nasties.

So, anyway. During the attack, I got knocked down by Octavian (_of all people?!_). Okay, not exactly by him since Jason said Octavian had some really buff dudes knock me out. Okay, so the main point of this story : Hera (the Annoying Goddess of _Family_ and Marriage) sent me to Panem, just to show me what could happen if Gaea wins.

And there's this really horrible annual event called 'The Hunger Games' where 24 tributes aged 12-18, 1 male and 1 female from each districts (there's 12) are selected at a ceremony called 'The Reaping'. One may volunteer – a boy for the male tribute, a girl for the female tribute. I volunteered for the male tribute for District 12, Peeta Mellark in the 74th Hunger Games.

I joined forces with the Careers (tributes from Districts 1,2 and 4) until the male tribute from 2, Cato stuck a knife in my leg. And then I allied up with a little girl from District 11 named Rue, who died in my arms a few days later when Marvel (tribute from 1) shish-kebabed her. After that, I teamed up with my fellow tribute from 12, Katniss Everdeen.

And then I died.

Which really sucks because dying in dreams literally does. I mean, in the Games, Cato from Two was the one who killed me. He stuck his sword in my left chest and now I am left with a really, really ugly scar. Usually, I'm not one who's foreign to scars but this one makes me extremely uncomfortable. Especially every time I take off my shirt because Annabeth would just s_tare _at it. Which is kinda flattering, but still pretty uncomfortable for me.

Oh, you don't understand me? Okay, it's like this : when the Romans attacked our ship, Octavian and two of his buffy accomplices knocked me out, giving me quite a concussion. During me being unconscious, Hera sent me to the future and the rest is history. I mean, the rest is as I told you before.

Still not getting it? I think you should read the first book before opening this one. I mean, that's why it's called a SEQUEL. Right?

Okay, so where was I? Right. And after I regained my consciousness, my father, Poseidon told me all about Hera's plan and BOOM! Now we're here.

Where's here, you might ask?

Here…as in…_Panem_.


	2. Chapter I

**A/N: **_As of usual :_

**bambino01 : **_Glad you liked it…I was worried you guys got all confused because of my – Percy's – rambling.  
_**Pollex : **_:)  
_**awesomeness : **_I forgive you..hahaha….:)  
_**ArianaandXaia : **_Possibly would be awkward as_ hell…lol  
**Username1576 : **_Maybe this chapter will answer your question..:P  
_**Guest : **_Um...what did you mean by 'harem' story?_  
**Darth Bane123 : **_It means as in...they're already in Panem?__  
_

**Disclaimer : **_Let's see *check ID* Well, it seems my name is Bautista Jades and not Rick Riordan nor Suzanne Collins. *pockets ID* need I say more?_

* * *

**Percy's POV**

**(Possibly a few days or weeks earlier)**

" Percy, tell me again : _why _do you want me to create a time machine?" Annabeth asks as she pores over Daedalus' laptop.

" You're not trying to tell me it's impossible, right?" I ask, feeling worried. She rolls her eyes at me.

" Have some faith in me and Daedalus will you?" she scoffs. " Daedalus is the best inventor of all time!"

" _Was_," I corrected her.

" Why?"

" Because you're going to top him," I say simply. Her face flushes red with pleasure and a more determined look appears on her face. " So, what have you gotten so far?"

" There's just so many choices," Annabeth says, staring at the screen. " There's this one that can teleport you to parallel universe."

" Parallel universe? What does that means?" I ask her. Yeah, I sound stupid. Deal with it. And besides, she loves me for it. She just won't admit it.

" It means...um…how shall I – "

" Dumb it down for me?"

" Pretty much," she says, looking at me apologetically. I grin at her and squeeze her hands. " Let's put it like this : in another world, there'll be another Percy and another me. Except that they won't be dating and they will most probably won't be demigods."

" Oh, so they're kind of like opposites of us?"

" To put it simply, yeah." I nod. " So, there's that. And there's another machine that could only teleport you to the past, which is highly not recommended by Daedalus," she says, pointing to a small note beside the drawing. " The plan is still not complete."

" Well, we're not trying to go to the past now, are we?" I ask her. " Panem is way, way into the future. How about that one?" I ask, pointing to a very weird and very dangerous looking device that might have a small note attached screaming : 'NOT FOR PERCY JACKSON'.

" That one might take ages to built," Annabeth says, squinting at all the notes and angles and whatnots written on the screen. " There's a lot of things that we don't have, for example like that," she points to a small, ruby red stone. " The Elixir of Life."

" The Sorcerer's Stone," I say.

" You read Harry Potter?"

" If you count banging my head with it as reading, then yes." She laughs. " What? I can't read English. I only go for Ancient Greek and Latin." Seeing she still won't stop laughing (and the fact that my face is as hot as coal), I ask her, " So, what does the Stone do?"

" You should know. You've read the series right?" she asks, looking at me with a sly grin on her face. " Okay, okay," she says, seeing the look on my face. " The Elixir of Life can turn metal into gold and prolong the life of the drinker."

" Oh, so it's not the machine we're looking for," I comment, feeling a little bit crestfallen. " It's a gold-making, extending-life machine."

" How are you going to a place that will only exist if Gaea wins when Gaea haven't even won yet?" Frank asks, joining us at the computer. " Isn't that a little bit complicated? And why, anyway?"

" Yeah, Percy," Annabeth says, looking at me with a dangerous glint in her eyes. " I've always wondered why you wanted to go to Panem."

" I told you, I need to help a friend!" I say exasperatedly. If not a little alarmed at the look Annabeth has in her eyes.

" You never told us that," Frank says, cocking his eyebrows. " What's his name?"

I could feel my face reddening yet again when he asked the question. I don't think I should tell them about Katniss. Yet. But then if I tell them about Katniss, Annabeth might flip out. Emphasize on the word _might_.

" So, Percy. What's his name?" Annabeth asks, leaning on her elbows, looking intently at me. Oh, crap. Remember when they said that some girls can know when their boyfriends are hiding something? I think Annabeth's one of them. Heck, I think she's reading my mind!

" Um….it was a _'her'_," I tell them, shifting uncomfortably. Frank whistles slowly (I nearly threw a book at him) and Annabeth's eyes visibly became brighter. " Her name was Katniss Everdeen."

" Oh," Frank says, obviously being affected by the sudden awkwardness. " Right. Um…I think I'm going to help Hazel with her..um..you know, her sea-sickness."

When he was out of earshot, I finally Annabeth everything about the 'dream'. Okay, the experience of being transported into a post-apocalyptic country. Minus everything about…um…what happened in the cave. Remember?

" So you've been keeping this all a secret all this while?" Annabeth asks quietly. Uh-oh. Um… " So tell me about this…_Katniss._"

Oh, crap.

" Um…"

" Watch out!" Leo yells out from the steering wheel*. Festus breathes some fiery breath at something flying in the sky.

" _Styx_!" Annabeth mutters, leaping to her feet and is instantly at Leo's side. " What in Hades is that?"

" Not sure," Leo says, typing some commands and codes furiously into some keyboard that appears out of nowhere. " But Festus says those are nasties we do not want to meet and do not have the time to meet."

I walk up to the stern and squint hard at the two black mass that is growing bigger and bigger. " I think those are people."

" Romans?" Piper asks, appearing on my right, her hair all frazzled.

" Nah, too small to be them," Jason says, appearing on my right, gripping the rail hard. " And anyway, Romans could be spotted miles away because of our…um…," he stops, looking suddenly uncomfortable.

" The golden eagle," I finish his sentence. " You're right. Those aren't the Romans. Those are definitely some nasties. Get ready guys!" I shout.

Everyone, except for Leo and Annabeth, who stood steadily at the steer, scrambled for their weapons and prepares ourselves for the attack.

" Um…guys?" Leo calls out. " I hate to break it to you but those are eidolons!"

Cold washes over me. More eidolons? Oh, nuts. I hate them. Haven't they learnt their lesson when Piper commanded them to leave? Sheesh…some people – monsters - just never learn!

" Should I shoot them down?" Frank asks, fingering his quiver of arrows nervously. " They look as though they just want to swoop down and grab something to eat."

" They're eidolons, Frank," I say, patting him on the back. " They _possess_ you, not eat you. Don't worry. And besides, we all don't taste that good."

" Says you," Annabeth calls out, a small smile on her face. " They seem to have quite an interest with sea-gods' spawn's flesh."

" Ha ha. Very funny, Annabeth," I say, rolling my eyes. Everyone else had troubles to keep their focus on the threat, seeing as they were too busy laughing at me.

" Incoming!" Leo yells.

Too late, though. The black masses turn out to be two, huge, black gryphon with two mortals (I think..they weren't wearing any armor) on their backs. Before anyone could react to them, I am lifted off of my feet.

" Hey!" I yell as the gryphon took me higher and higher up. " Let me go!"

" _As much as we would like to_," the mortal – eidolon - says in a very eerie, very familiar kind of voice.

" _We can't_," the other mortal – eidolon! - finishes, in the same voice. That's when I notice that the second gryphon has Annabeth in its clutches. " _Hold on tight_," Annabeth's mortal rider hisses and slowly we're higher and higher and higher and higher (and certainly a lot more. Seriously, Zeus should've just blasted us out of his domain. Much more preferable)…

…until suddenly I land, face-first on some dry, hard ground with Annabeth on top of me.

" Sorry," she says, scrambling to her feet.

" 'Sokay," I grunt as I push myself up, " I'm used to it. Where are we?" I look around, taking in of our surroundings. Which wasn't familiar _at all._

At least, at first.

There were some cold, cruel laughter above us. We look up and the gryphons, along with their riders, are circling overhead, the mortals (definitely possessed by the same eidolons that possessed me, Jason and Leo) jeering down at us.

" _Our mistress wishes to show the young architect – "_

" _– what she has in store for your world."_

" What the hell are you talking about?" I demand. They laugh some more, making mocking faces at us.

" _Our mistress wishes for you to see what is going to happen –"_

" _ - to your world one she destroys it._"

" _Enjoy your stay!_ " they choruses together, before, still laughing, soaring back into the sky. Higher and higher and higher until finally, they disappear in a burst of blinding white light.

" What did they mean?" Annabeth says, looking extremely pissed off (yet beautiful) that we had just been dumped in the middle of nowhere by two really weird eidolons with their mighty steed. " _See what is going to happen_? What in Hades did they mean?"

And that's when I actually take in our surroundings.

Smokes going up into the dull blue sky.

The sound of rocks getting smashed to pieces. Over and over again.

The somewhat familiar woodsy smell.

The distant crying of a child.

The labored sound of someone taking their breaths.

" Percy?" Annabeth touches my shoulder and I jerk away accidentally. " Sorry. It's just…you kind of zoned out and you walked to…um..here."

" I think I know where we are."

* * *

**A/N**: _Seeing as how lengthy was my A/Ns in the previous story, I've decided to keep it simple and short. I hope. Oh, who am I kidding? Writing to you guys is one of my favourite things to do! So, where do you think they are? Also, I'm really sorry if I sound sarcastic to you but..yeah..I just am sarcastic..even in real life. O.o_


	3. Chapter II

**A/N: **

**makerboy13 :**_Number 3 is going to be one hell of a challenge…poor Percy..he must be hating my guts right now…:) and no, Jason and the others aren't with them. Only Percy and Annabeth are transported to Panem. However, there are some other characters going to be introduced. _  
**gamerkid137 : **_Thanks…:)  
_**Guest : **_why are you giving me that :)  
_**hera98 and awesomeness : **_Thing you should know about me is I get ideas when I write. So…it's pretty spontaneous. So I can't promise any Percabeth…and besides, I won't be able to do it as good as Uncle Rick.  
_**ArianaandXaia : **_one of the designs I have in mind is the typical red telephone booth…O.O too cliché?  
_**Darth Bane123 : **_Dude, this is the Fanfiction version of Catching Fire. :O  
_**bambino01 : **_Spot on!  
_**the quill12 : **_I pity him too. Like I said, he must be hating my guts right now…I'll try not to disappoint you. But quick question: Have I? wondering so that I can avoid it later..^^_

**Disclaimer : **_I can't even drive…need I say more? :P_

* * *

**Percy's POV**

" Hold up. Back up for moment. You're saying we're in _Panem_?"

" Yes, Annabeth. I've been telling you that for the last hour : _we are in Panem_," I say patiently. Oh boy, she sure as hell didn't believe me when I told her about Panem. She actually thought I made it up! Hah! If only I'm that creative…

" I don't believe it," she murmurs as we crept out of the woods slowly and stealthily. Don't want anyone to catch us now, do we? Especially since my face is probably familiar. " And which district did you say again?"

" District Twelve."

She stops so suddenly that I walk into her and sent the both of us tumbling down, ending with us in a tangled heap. " Get off of me!" she gasps, kicking me off.

" Ow!" I cry out in pain when her leg hit my soft spot. " Watch it!"

" Sorry!" she gasps. " Just get _off _of me! I can't breathe!"

Ouch. " Hey!"

" Who goes there?"

We both froze. Afraid to move even an inch.

" Hey!"

We both look at each other for a second before scrambling for cover. _  
_

" Wait!"

I froze.

" Who are – " the girl with the dark hair and grey eyes stop and stares at me, her mouth gaping open when I turn around and face her. "_ Percy_?"

I grin.

* * *

" Quit staring at me already."

" I can't. It's just…."

" Too complicated for your frozen brain to process?" Annabeth asks coldly. Katniss finally averts her gaze to Annabeth and studies her for awhile. " Done sizing me up?"

" You're pretty cold for a pretty face," Katniss comments.

" Yeah. I hate it when someone tries to ruin things for me."

" What am I ruining for you?" Katniss asks Annabeth politely.

" So, Katniss. Did you just get back from doing some hunting?" I interrupt their (extremely cold) conversation before Annabeth could say something else. " Why are you still hunting? You won the Games! Heaps of money and all." Annabeth shoots me her killing gaze. Sorry, babe. I do _NOT_ want to have to watch the both of you wage World War III. As if I don't have enough wars on my plate.

" Oh, it's not for me. It's for Gale and his family."

" Oh. How is Gale now?" I ask her. Truly, I am pretty anxious how he would react to me. I mean, I've always known he had a crush on Katniss so…let's just hope he doesn't hang me in one of his snares. Do you get what I am saying?

" He's working at the mines now," she says bitterly. " I don't know how he can stand that place. I can get some sort of mental breakdown if I spent too much time in there."

" Looks like you've already have," Annabeth comments, nodding towards her arrows and bow. " Going to hunt some boys now?"

Katniss stares at Annabeth, her face reddening ( I don't think I want to know whether it's from anger or embarrassment). " _What_ is your problem, kid?" she demands. " You are definitely getting on my nerves now."

" Do you really want to know my _problem_? Really?" Annabeth shoots back, now she's actually on her feet. " My _problem_ is the fact that – "

" She's my girlfriend, Katniss," I quickly say. Annabeth stops in her tracks and Katniss' jaw drops. " Look, there's a lot of explaining I need to make to you but I don't think it's pretty safe here. I think we'd need to move into the woods deeper to – "

" You've got a girlfriend?" Katniss asks me, looking at me straight in the eye. " _Why _didn't you tell me about this?"

" I just told you!" I protest. " Look. Meet us at the usual place tomorrow at noon and I promise I will explain everything – _every single thing_ – to you."

" What makes you think I'd do what you just asked?" Katniss asks me coldly.

That caught me off guard.

" I gotta go. I have to drop today's game at Gale's. See you around, if I'm lucky." She gets up to her feet and walks away, not turning back even once.

" Where are we going to stay?" Annabeth asks me, breaking the awkward silence. " I mean, that Katniss is sure not to invite us to stay with her."

" We'll just set up camp here in the woods," I say, breaking my gaze on Katniss' retreating back. " Let's go back farther than the fence. I don't want to meet with anyone else for now."

" Okay," Annabeth says and, after hesitating for a moment, laces her fingers through mine. " I'm sorry I lost my cool just now." I could just summon a grim smile. " It's just…I don't want any competition now that I've got you back."

" Oh, I don't want to be _competed_ for. I haven't forgotten about Rachel or Calypso yet, you know," I remind her. She glares at me and my grim mood instantly disappears and soon we're joking about our childhood as we traipse through the woods, looking for a perfect place to set up camp.

But as we settle down in for the night, I could tell that I am in for a rough time here.

Not to mention that I am probably going to end up on the Capitol's hit list if they knew I am somehow still alive.

Oh, _nuts._

* * *

**A/N: **_OMG! I think I just disappointed you guys! I am soooooo sorry but I have quite a writer's block right now but I am going to try my best to do better for the next chapter. Again, I am sooo sorry…..T.T_

_Oh, and I'm not sure if Annabeth sounded OOC but I think that is really her. I mean, she didn't actually claim Percy when Rachel and Calypso had a crush on him but her attitude pretty much made it all clear that Percy is hers. _

_Uh….do I actually make sense or am I just talking gibberish?_

_Oh, and btw, what do you think of the cover photo?_


	4. Chapter III

**A/N: **_OMG…I am sooooo soooo sorry for the stupid and hideous previous chapter. This bloody writer's block… ARGH! _

**awesomeness : **_Thanks, hun but this is a hideous chapter..I'm sorry! T.T  
_**ArianaandXaia : **_I'm sorry for disappointing you! I tried to make it longer buuuut….and yeah, I like the red phone booth/time machine better. Easier to disguise it.  
_**makerboy13 : **_Annabeth is going to go ballistic. o.o I think I'll do a one-shot about Katniss and the days after Percy's 'death'. _

**Disclaimer : **_homaigod! I always get writer's block and Rick's been writing a 608-page book for over a year and Suzanne Collins has a trilogy plus another series! Do the math…:P_

* * *

**Percy's POV**

" I want to go with you."

" I don't think that's going to help, Annabeth."

" Why not?"

" Um…."

" I'm not going to start World War III."

I choke on my berries. " Sure you won't," I say sarcastically. " I nearly burst into flames at the tension between you two."

Annabeth pick some rocks (small, thankfully) and threw it at me, laughing. " Can you be more sarcastic?"

It is quite a sunny morning today, though the sun isn't that hot. At least it is warmer than last night. We decided to sleep in shifts and I told Annabeth to go to sleep first. After an hour or two, it started to snow really heavily and we couldn't sleep after that since we're too busy walking around, jumping and doing some sprint to keep ourselves warm. By dawn, the snowing slows down and we finally could get a quick nap.

" Seriously," I say, " I think you should just hide out here while I go and meet Katniss."

" Seriously," she mimics me. " I think I should just go and follow you when you go and meet Katniss."

" Annabeth!"

" Percy!"

" Oh, this is on, Chase!"

" Bring it, Jackson!"

And…

Yeah…

We pretty much frolicked around on the ground together the rest of the morning. Stopping only for some air. After we got bored with wrestling each other, we resorted to throwing snowballs at each other.

Yay.

Here we are, stranded in a dystopian country probably light years away with no help and no friends and yet we are playing like kids.

Typical of you, Jackson.

" It's nearly noon," Annabeth says suddenly, just as I perfected my hundredth snowball and prepare it for launch.

" Oh, you're just saying that so that you wouldn't lose to me!"

She rolls her eyes. " As much as I would like to beat you, Seaweed Brain, you've still got a promise to keep," she says.

" How can you tell it's noon when you don't even have a watch?"

She rolls her eyes (AGAIN!) and points up at the sun. " There's this thing we call estimating the time according to our shadows, Seaweed Brain. How did you think those people in Ancient Greece could figure out the time?"

" Oh," I say, grinning sheepishly. " Hey, don't give me that look!" I tell her, launching the snowball at her. " I'm a Seaweed Brain. We all know that."

" Good. Come on," she says, grabbing my arm. " You've got a lot of explaining to do."

" Um…."

" Yes. To me too."

Styx.

* * *

" Does she make it a habit of making people wait?" Annabeth ask, her tone is forced to sound calm. " My butt is freezing right now."

" I don't understand," I say, ruffling my hair. " I mean, I promised I'd explain everything and all. Why won't she trust me?"

Annabeth looks at me in a semi-sympathetic way. _Semi_ because there's this really scary glint in her eyes that probably screamed DON'T SAY ANYTHING STUPID OR I WILL GUT YOU LIKE A FISH. " She probably had something she had to deal with," Annabeth says, in a semi-soothing voice. Again, _semi _because her voice contains venom.

" Maybe," I say. " But as you said, my butt is freezing too. Wanna find somewhere warm enough?"

" Anywhere," she says, looking extremely relieved at the suggestion. " Wait. Are you going into the district?" she suddenly asks, looking extremely alarmed when I approach the fence and bend over to fit myself between the gaps.

" Why do you sound so surprised?"

" People are going to know who you are, Percy and that will raise a lot of questions, remember?" she says, sounding pretty exasperated.

" Oh, sorry. I forgot. Thanks for reminding me," I say, stepping away from the fence. " Gods, if you didn't stop me someone could have spotted me." I pull her close and give her a hug. " So, any ideas on how to disguise your awfully hot boyfriend?"

" Oh, yeah. With some scars?"

I roll my eyes. She push me away and went to the blueberry bush. She picks a few bunch ( " You're not still hungry, are you?" ) and starts to squeeze the juice on top of my head. " The good thing about this berries are that they give off some strong color, don't you think?"

Yeah. Very strong coloring. Because now I'm standing in front of her with my hair and lips dyed blue. And now she's going to paint some more blueberry juice on to my eyelids.

" I've always wanted to see you with make-up, Percy," she giggles. " And now my wish has come true."

" Ha ha," I say, rolling my eyes. " Good for you. Am I different enough now?"

" Wait!" she says, pulling my hand. " Here," she hands me her Yankees cap. When she sees the confused look on my face, she adds, " It hasn't been working ever since I met Athena in a mess at the Grand Central Station. It's pretty much a regular baseball cap now. Yeah. Come on."

We slip in through the fence and slowly make our way to the disturbingly familiar street. " I think I know where we can go," I whisper to her as we walk pass several miners, who seem to have quite an interest in me. Maybe because of the blue color of my hair.

Or maybe they actually recognized me as Percy Jackson, the boy who died in the 74th Hunger Games.

I lean over to Annabeth and whisper, " My name is going to be Adrian James. Okay? Okay." She stares at me in an amusement for a while and shakes her head, muttering " Seaweed Brain."

After a few minutes of walking, we finally reached the alien yet familiar house.

" The Everdeens," I say, walking straight to the front door.

" Don't you think that would defeat the purpose of your disguise?" Annabeth hisses at me, tugging at my arm as I knock on the frayed wooden door.

" We'll just introduce ourselves and then ask if they can give us some shelter and food because we're freezing our butts now," I hiss back. She huffs and crosses her arm, waiting for the door to open. " Hello? Is anybody home?"

" The Everdeens moved to the Victor's Village, son," a familiar voice says. I turn around and I nearly call her by name. " You can find them in the second house. But why are you looking for them in the first place anyway?"

" Um…we're freezing right now and it would be extremely nice to have something warm to eat," I say and right on cue, Annabeth sneezes. " We stayed out in the snow last night and my (_please don't kill me!_) wife here is starting to catch some cold."

" What's your name, son?" the old lady – Greasy Sae – asks, her eyes narrowing in suspicion. " Are you from the Capitol? 'Cause I've never seen you before here."

" My name is Adrian James and this is my wife, Annabeth. We're um…yeah, we're from the Capitol," I lied.

But…

The general rule of lying : once you lie, you have to lie some more and more and more and always keep track of it because one little slip can send everything crumbling. So yeah…I'm going to be in deep shit after this but what the heck? If I don't, I'm going to get some major questions from the people of District 12.

And Panem. Let's not forget about Panem.

" I'm Sae Upton. You can call me Greasy Sae. Everybody does." She eyes us some more. " You don't sound Capitol-ish.." Dang it.

" We never did have the accent because we just moved there recently. About a couple of months back."

NO ANNABETH!

" _Moved_ to the Capitol?" Right now, Greasy Sae's eyes are in slits, glaring at us. " What do you mean _moved _to the Capitol? You don't move to the Capitol, girl!"

" Special permission from the President himself!" I blurt out. " One of my family members are in the government and he specifically asked the President if I and my friend could have our wedding there. And then we were supposed to go to District One for our honeymoon. Somehow, we ended up on the wrong train and now here we are. In District Twelve."

Greasy Sae didn't say anything for a moment. She merely studies us in silence, which made me extremely uncomfortable because there are two scenarios. One, she believes us and let us go to the Everdeens in peace. Two, she doesn't believe us, fetch some Peacekeepers and send us back to the Capitol, where my whole story is going to crumble and we are most likely going to get killed.

Annabeth squeezes my hand so hard it felt like she was trying to squeeze it off. She looks at me and smiles sweetly but her eyes are stormy. She's trying to figure out some escape plan if things doesn't go our way. And an agreement passes through us.

" Very well then. I guess you really are lost," Greasy Sae announce. " Do you want me give you some warm broth or do you just want me to escort you to the Everdeens? Evelyn and her younger daughter, Primrose are the best healers there is in this district. Maybe she could patch your wife up a bit. And maybe you too," she says, nodding to some deep scratches on my arm.

" Maybe you could just escort us to the Everdeens," I say, feeling slightly amazed that I, for once, had managed to concoct a lie to save our asses.

Greasy Sae nods and leads us to the Victor's Village. " Tell Evelyn I said hi and that I still have some herbs left if she needs it."

" Will do. Thanks Greasy Sae!" I call out to her as she walks briskly off to the Hob.

" Don't mention it!" she calls back.

" That was a relief," Annabeth breathes, hugging me. " I thought we were busted. Oh, and _wife_? When did you proposed?" I glare at her and she laughs, hugging even tighter. We both walk up to the front door and I let go of her.

" Hello?" I call out, knocking gently. " Is anybody home?"

The front door swings open and Prim stood there in her white school uniform. " Yes?" she says politely though there is some alarm in her eyes. " Can I help you?"

" Are you Primrose Everdeen?" I ask, just playing my part as a 'Capitol tourist' who is in need of medicines and warmth. " Greasy Sae brought us here. We stayed out in the snow last night and my wife here caught some cold. Greasy Sae said you were the district doctor?"

" Healers," Prim corrects me. " Come on in. I'll make you some warm tea. Usually that's the best remedy for mild colds."

" Who's there, Prim?"

" This man's wife has the cold. I'm going to make some mint tea for them. They look as if their frozen to death," Prim tells her mother, pulling two teacups and saucers from the cupboard. " Mother?"

Yeah.

Evelyn Everdeen didn't respond to her daughter because she's too busy staring at me.

" Mother."

" Oh," she snaps out of her trance, turning her gaze on her daughter, who stood at the kitchen sink, staring at her. " What is it dear?"

" Um…nothing. I was just saying that I'm going to make some mint tea for them. Should I put some cough herbs in the lady's tea?"

" Oh, you have the cold?" Mrs. Everdeen asks Annabeth.

" Yeah. We stayed out in the snow last night and I seem to have caught some," Annabeth says, sneezing some more. " Sorry."

" That's okay," Prim says. " We get loads of sick people in here. Mother, do you want to cook or shall I cook for our guests?"

" Oh, please!" Annabeth suddenly says. " We don't want to be a bother. Maybe after this cup of tea we'll just be on our way."

ANNABETH!

" Don't be silly," Prim says, smiling as she places the tea in front of us.. " You have to have something to eat first. And besides, it's nearly dinnertime. Mother?"

Yeah.

She's staring at me again.

" What did you say your name was, dear?" she asks me.

Percy Jackson, ma'am. " Adrian James. This is my wife, Annabeth."

" You remind me so much of someone," she says, pulling my face close to her. " The same eyes, the same build." She blinks. " I'm so sorry," she says sheepishly, letting go of my collar. " I'll do the dinner tonight, dear," she addresses Prim. " Why don't you show our guests the extra room so they can clean up."

" Okay," Prim says, shrugging. " I'll show you to the room after you finish the tea. I'll go and warm the water first for you." She hurries out of the kitchen and soon is out of sight.

" So," Mrs. Everdeen says. " Where are you two from? You don't look like you're from around here." She places a large wild turkey in the sink. " Especially with that hair," she nods.

" My hair?" I say, momentarily forgetting that my hair is blue. " Oh. Right. My hair."

" We're from the Capitol. We just got married and were on our way to District One for our honeymoon but we boarded the wrong train. So, here we are," Annabeth quickly feed Mrs. Everdeen the same story I fed to Greasy Sae. " Quite foolish of us, really," she fakes a slightly nervous laugh.

" You don't say," Mrs. Everdeen says, pursing her lips slightly.

" Water's warm now," Prim's voice calls from the guest room.

" I think I'll go and take a bath first," I tell Annabeth, who nods.

And that is one of the time I actually wished I hadn't taken a bath.

Why?

Because in my eagerness to wash the stickiness off of me, I forgot that the reason I felt sticky was because of the blueberry juice we used to dye my hair, eyes and lips blue.

And because of that, when I walk out of the guest room back into the kitchen after my bath all squeaky clean and shiny, Mrs. Everdeen takes one look at me, shrieks and faints.

Great. Just great.

I just blew my own cover.

* * *

**A/N: **_Well…that was certainly longer than usual. Feedbacks are welcomed._


	5. Chapter IV

**A/N: **_Sorry for the long absence_

**Pollex : **_lol…what are you laughing about?  
_**awesomeness : **_Yeaaaah…and the last chapter is one of my worse…I am gonna try to avoid it.  
_**Guest : **_I'm sorry if this story is disappointing you. Writing a story, even a fanfic, is not a piece of cake. And I am not going to drop Annabeth out. NEVER. Copy that?  
_**Melissa : **_you'll see. :)  
_**The Red Reader of Doom : **_Um…do you know how close I was to getting shish-kebab'ed by Percabeth shippers?  
_**AchillesSaber : **_Dude, it's a Catching Fire fanfic! 'Course it's gonna follow the CF events. Second question : You'll see. Third question : same answer as first. Fourth Question : what? Fifth question : what? Sixth question : not sure. seventh question : um… Eight question : I suppose you'll see… and you have just gotten your wish!_

_Oh, and I think I'm going to keep the thanking thingy short for this chapter. But after this, it's a long ceremony again. _

**Disclaimer : **I'm not even American.

* * *

**(Since there is a little bit of an uproar at the Everdeens' residence, why don't we visit the other Everdeen who is currently on a train heading to District 11?)**

**Katniss' POV**

_A few hours before the Everdeens' residence fiasco when a certain boy appeared…_

" Attention everyone!" Effie Trinket calls out, clapping her hands. " We're about to do the outdoor shot right now at the cemetery."

" Cemetery?" I blurt out. " Why the cemetery?"

" To visit Percy, Katniss," Effie says, looking horrified that I forgot about him.

" Visit. Percy?"

" Come on, sweetheart," Haymitch says, grabbing me by the arm. " Percy is waiting for you." When we're a bit further away from the team, he leans in and murmurs, " Act as if you are still terribly mourning over his death, okay? Convince everyone how still broken you are."

" There's no point of acting, Haymitch," I say. " I still _am_ broken."

How can I not be? He _promised _ to get out of the arena with me. He _promised._

But then…

There's the some sort of apparition I encounter yesterday.

An apparition of him and the girl from Six, Annabeth.

Oh, you're asking who's _him_? _Him _is said Percy Jackson. My fellow tribute.

I know.

I sound crazy.

Maybe I am.

I mean, I'm seeing the dead now. I'm having dreams of them every single night.

Maybe I should be on medication.

Or alcohol.

But then I'd turn out like Haymitch.

" _Katniss_!" I jerk out of my reverie and glare at Haymitch (yeah..speak of the devil and now he's calling you). " We're here. I thought there was something you wanted to say?"

" Something to..say?" My eyes follow his and land on the weathered, white gravestone with his name on it in cursive writing." Oh."

Oh, indeed.

Because then I started bawling my eyes out. Silently, thankfully. I know, I know. Sounds pretty un-Katniss of me but..I'm not sure why. I mean, it's not the first time someone I care and have come to love had died. My dad died when I was eleven in the mines. I watched Rue die in..in his arms. But I'm not sure why his death affected me the most. When I voiced this to Cinna, he said that maybe I loved him way more than I actually thought.

Hush fell over the camera crew as all of them watch as I fell on to my knees. " I'm sorry," I whisper to the grave. " I'm so, so sorry for not defending you in the arena. If I had, you wouldn't be in there."

Silence (as if I wanted any response from him).

" I miss you," I say. " I miss you so, so much that it actually hurts like someone stabbed me right in the heart." I chuckle a bit. " Well…I suppose I shouldn't make a reference about being stabbed right in the heart, huh? Considering the circumstances."

Some shuffling from behind me.

" I think I've got to go now." I stare at the writing on the gravestone for a minute before I felt a hand on my shoulder. " See you later." I get to my feet and see Effie's face streaked with tears and Olivia is still weeping into her scarf. " We'd better get going," I say, my voice a little bit croaky.

" Yeah. Let's," Haymitch nods.

The rest of the day is a blur of getting to the station, bidding everyone good-bye, the train pulling out, the old team (well, half of the old team) – me, Effie, Haymitch and Cinna dining on an indescribably delicious dinner that I couldn't even remember. And then I'm swathed in pyjamas and a voluminous robe, sitting in my plush compartment, waiting for the others to go to sleep. Except for Haymitch. He's going to be up all night. He doesn't think too much of sleeping in the dark.

When the train seems quiet, I put on my slippers and pad out to his door. I have to knock several times before he answers, scowling, as if certain I've brought bad news.

" What do you want?" he says, nearly knocking me out with a cloud of wine fumes.

" I have to talk to you," I whisper.

" Now?" he asks. I nod. " This better be good." He waits, but I felt a wee bit of paranoid that the conversation could be heard. " Well?" he barks.

The train brakes and for a second, panic seized me because I think that President Snow is watching over me and doesn't approve of me confiding in Haymitch and has decided to just go ahead and finish me off. But nope, we're just stopping for refuel. Go figure.

" The train's so stuffy," I say.

An understanding crosses his face for a moment before it disappears. " I know what you need." He pushes past me and lurches down the hall to the door. When he wrestles it open, a blast of snow hit us. He trips and fell to the ground.

A Capitol attendant rushes to help, but Haymitch waves her away good-naturedly as he staggers off. " Just want some fresh air. Only be a minute."

" Sorry. He's drunk," I tell the attendant apologetically. " I'll get him." I hop off the train and stumble along the track behind him, soaking my slippers with snow as he leads me beyond the end of the train so that we won't get overheard. Then he turns to me.

" What?"

And I start telling him everything.

* * *

_**(FLASHBACK)**_

_ " I think we'll make this situation a lot simpler by agreeing not to lie to each other," he says. " What do you think?"_

_ I think my tongue is frozen and speech will be impossible. " Yes, I think that would save time," I say in a surprisingly steady voice. _

_ His lips stretch out into a smile – terribly gruesome one – and it caught me by surprise. I was expecting to get a glimpse of a snake's lips – which is none – but his are overly full, the skin stretched too tight. I wonder if he had his mouth altered to make him more appealing. If so, it was a waste of time and money because he is a downright – forgive me – disgusting snake. _

_ " My advisors were concerned that you would be difficult, but you're not planning on being difficult, are you?" he asks._

_ " No."_

_ " That's what I told them. I said, any girl who goes to such lengths to preserve her life isn't going to be interested to throw it away with both hands. Her mother, her sister, and all those….cousins." Well….the way he emphasized on the word 'cousins' convinced me that he knows that Gale and I don't share the same family tree. _

_ Well. _

_ " Let's sit," President Snow says, taking a seat at the large desk of polished wood where Prim does her homework and my mother her budgets. Like our home, this is a place that he has no right – but ultimately every right – to occupy. I take a seat in the carved, straight-backed and much-too-high chair in front of the desk with only my toes on the ground. _

_ " I have a problem, Miss Everdeen," says President Snow. " A problem that began the moment you lost your head and refused to be crowned as victor when we pulled you out of the arena. You even threatened to stick an arrow in me, my dear."_

_ Oh. I threatened President Snow? Oh, well. I guess I really wasn't right in the head at that time considering I had just lost someone I had worked my butt off to keep alive at that time, so yeah._

_ " Had I were given the post of Head Gamemaker instead of dear old Seneca Crane, I would have blasted you to bits and pieces for making a threat like that," he says in this extremely calm tones that is scaring me. " Instead, you had the good fortune to get Seneca Crane, who possess an admirable amount of sentimental streak. So here you are." He leans in the chair, his fingers laced together. " And can you guess where he is?"_

_ In a grave somewhere, if not cremated or blasted to bits. The smell of roses and blood grows stronger now that only a desk separates us. There's a rose in President Snow's lapel , which at least suggests a source of the flower perfume, but it must be genetically enhanced, because no real rose reeks like that. As for the blood…._

_ " After that, there was nothing to be done except to watch you play your little scenario. And you were pretty good too, playing the grieve-stricken school girl who just can't seem to accept the death of her…__**boyfriend**__." Um… " The people in the Capitol were quite convinced. Unfortunately, not everyone in the districts fell for your act," he says. _

_ I suppose the look on my face is extremely incredulous that he smiles, amused. " This, of course, you don't know. You have no access to information about the mood in other districts. In several of them, however, people admired your courage to actually threaten to kill me."_

_ " But I didn't."_

_ " Yes, you did, Miss Everdeen. I told you before that you threatened to stick an arrow in me, did I not?" I didn't say anything. " I suppose you don't remember this because at that time the paramedics had administered the first dose of Valyrel*."_

_ " The..first dose?"_

_ " Oh, yes. You were being quite…difficult at that time. They were forced to give a second dose to knock you out just to get on to the helicopter," he explains, the smile still on his pretentious appealing face. " That was why my advisors were concerned about you being difficult. I told them, if she is going to be difficult, another dose of Valyrel would definitely do the trick."_

_ When he said '_another dose of Valyrel'_, I'm not actually thinking just another dose to knock me out for awhile. _

_ " And everyone in the districts now admire your courage. If you, a schoolgirl from District Twelve, the underdog, could get away with defying and simultaneously threatening me unharmed, what is to stop them from doing the same?" He leans in closer to me. " What is to stop, say, an uprising?"_

_ It took me a moment to let his last sentence sink in. Then, the full weight of it hits me. " There have been uprisings?" I ask, both chilled and somewhat elated at the possibility. _

_ " Not yet. But they'll follow if the course of things doesn't change. And uprisings have been known to lead to revolution." President Snow rubs a spot over his left eyebrow, the very spot where I myself get headaches. " Do you have any idea what that would mean? How many people would die? What conditions those left would have to face? Whatever problems anyone may have with the Capitol, believe me when I say that if it released its grip on the districts for even a short time, the entire system would collapse."_

_ I don't actually believe my ears. Did I hear wrong? Did he actually say that? Oh, wow! I am really surprised at his directness and the sincerity of his speech (albeit questionable). As if the welfare of the citizens of Panem is his primary concern, when nothing could even be further from the truth. I don't know how I dare to say the next sentence, but I do. " It must be very fragile, if a simple, foolish schoolgirl like me could bring it down."_

_ There's a long pause as he examines me. Then he simply says, " It is fragile, yes but not in the way you imagine."_

_ Oh, I don't have a doubt about that._

_ There's a knock at the door and the Capitol man sticks his head in. " Her mother wants to know if you want tea."_

_ " I would. I would like tea," says the president. The door opens wider, and there stands my mother, holding a tray with a china tea set she brought to the Seam when she married my father. " Set it here, please." He places his book on the corner of the desk and pats the center. _

_ My mother sets the tray on the desk. It holds a china teapot and two cups, cream and sugar, and a plate of cookies. They are beautifully iced with softly colored flowers. It took me a moment to figure it out but of course, no one could do such beautiful icings except for Peeta Mellark. _

_ He sent many iced cupcakes and decorated cookies to my house in the Victors' Village. Every. Single. Day. It's as if he thought that by sending me these expensive treats I'd forget that he had been the reason to Percy's death. _

_ " What a welcoming sight!" he says. " You know, some people tend to forget that presidents need to eat too," he adds, smiling at her charmingly. Well, it seems to relax my mother a bit, anyway. _

_ " Can I get you anything else? I can cook something more substantial if you are hungry," she offers. _

_ " No, this could not be more perfect. Thank you," he says, clearly dismissing her. My mother nods, shoots me a glance, and goes. Leaving me with a very, very dangerous snake. President Snow pours tea for both of us and fills his with cream and sugar, then takes a long time stirring. I sense he had his say and is waiting for my response._

_ " It wasn't in my agenda to start an uprising," I tell him._

_ " I believe you. It doesn't matter. Your stylist turned out to be prophetic in his choice of wardrobe. Katniss Everdeen, the girl who was on fire, you have provided a spark that, if left unattended, may grow into an inferno that destroys Panem," he says._

_ " Why don't you just kill me now?" I blurt out._

_ " Publicly?" he asks as he sips his tea. " Goodness, no. That would only add more fuel to the flames."_

_ " Arrange an accident, then! Give me extra Valyrel and tell them I overdosed on it. Or just fire some sort of syringe filled with venom or poison when no one is looking. Getting rid of me or anyone else shouldn't be a problem when you have extremely advanced technology and weapons."_

_ He laughs. I'm serious. He actually laughed. " Oh, my dear Miss Everdeen," he says, his smile even wider than before. " Who would buy it? Not you, if you were watching."_

_ " Then just tell me what you want me to do. I'll do it."_

_ " If only that were simple." He picks up one of the flowered cookies and examines it. " Lovely. Did your mother made these?"_

_ " Um..no. The local baker's son made it. As a gift for my family," I say._

_ " Is that so?" he asks, as he dips the cookie into his tea. " And his name is?" I look at him questioningly. " Oh, I'm just wondering. For someone to send such beautiful and delicious, if not expensive treats like this, they must have be very close to you."_

_ " Oh, yeah. Peeta is a good friend of ours," I say, reaching for my cup of tea._

_ " Ours?"_

_ " Percy and I. Peeta was closer to Percy than he was to me. And Percy volunteered for him in the last Games."_

_ " I see." He nibbles the cookie a bit before setting it back down on his plate. " Do you visit him often?"_

_ Him? Oh. " Yes."_

_ " You miss him."_

_ It wasn't a question. " Terribly."_

_ " And how does the death of your…__**boyfriend**__ affect your life?" _

_ Trap question. " My life feels..pretty empty right now. I mean, his voice would wake us up every single morning. Singing, yelling in my ears." I could feel a smile appearing on my face. " Our house is pretty quiet now with no him stomping around and his endless talking."_

_ " Percy is talkative?"_

_ " Oh, yes. Extremely talkative. At times he would drive us crazy."_

_ " So you love him."_

_ " Yes."_

_ He adjusts himself, leaning in against the chair. " How's the handsome cousin?"_

_ Handsome…cousin. _

_ " I'm not sure what Gale has to do with this."_

_ " Oh, but Miss Everdeen. He has but everything to do with this conversation," he says, sipping his tea calmly. " Him, my dear. Him I can easily kill off if we don't come to a happy resolution." I stare at him. " You aren't doing him any favour by disappearing off into the woods each Sunday."_

_ I didn't say anything. He couldn't know, right? I mean, the woods are our safe haven. How could he possibly know? Unless…unless we were followed. At least by one person. If not, cameras. That certainly never crossed my mind before. And besides, we never did anything in the woods. Except for saying extremely treasonous things against the Capitol, which should earn us one way ticket out of this world. But not two people in love, which seems to be President Snow's implication. We are pretty much safe on that charge. Unless…unless…_

_ There is that one time that we made a stupid mistake. It was several weeks after I won the Games. The parties, the celebrations, the camera crews and reporters had kept me busy. So, when they finally packed up and went back to the Capitol, I finally resumed my quite life as usual. My family settled into our house here, in Victors' Village. The everyday life of District 12 – workers to the mine, kids to the school – resumed its usual pace. _

_ One day, I woke up hours before dawn and snuck out without telling anyone else. I packed some food along – bakery bread, goat cheese, cold chicken , oranges. Before I went into the woods, I stopped at a my old house and changed into my hunting boots. As usual, the fence was not charge so it was easy to slip into the woods and retrieve my bow and arrows. I went to our usual place, the place where Percy, Gale and I shared breakfast the morning of the reaping that got Percy and I into the arena._

_ I waited for at least two hours and when he didn't show up, I felt sure that he had given up on me in the weeks that had passed. That he no longer cared about me. Hated me even. And the idea of losing my other best friend whom I had shared so many secrets was so painful that I couldn't stand it. Especially not on top of everything that had happened. _

_ Then I looked up and there he was, standing ten feet away from me, just watching me. Without even thinking, I jumped up and threw my arms around him, making some weird noises that combined laughing, crying and choking. He was holding me so tightly that I couldn't see his face, but it was a long time before he finally let go, and that was because I developed a serious case of the hiccups and had to get some drink._

_ We did what we always did : we ate breakfast, hunted and gathered and fished. Talked about people . But not about us, not about his new life in the mines, my time in the arena. Not about Percy. Especially not about him since I would probably break down. So we talked about...just about other things. By the time we were at the hole that's nearest to the Hob, I think I really believed that things could be the same . That we could go on as we always had. I'd given all of the game to Gale to trade since we have so much food now. I told him I'd skip the Hob, even though I long to go there, because my mother and sister didn't even know I'd gone hunting and that they'd be wondering where I was. Then, suddenly, as I was suggesting that I'd take over the daily snare run, he took my face in his hands and kissed me._

_ I was completely unprepared. You would think that after all the hours I'd spent with Gale – watching him talk, laugh, frown – that I would know all there is about his lips. But I hadn't imagined how warm they would feel pressed against mine. Or how those hands, which could set the most intricate of snares, could easily ensnare me. It felt pretty good. But it felt so wrong. But I didn't push him away until he let go. He said, " I had to do that. At least once." And then he was gone. _

_ Oh, no. How stupid I've been to think that the Capitol would ignore me once I'm home. Maybe I didn't know about the potential uprisings. But I knew they were angry with me. Instead of acting with full caution, what have I done? From the president's point of view, I seem to have gotten over Percy and now flaunted my newfound preference for Gale before the whole district. Well, I'm not worried about that much since most of everyone in the district bought the whole Gale-and-Katniss-are-cousins thing. But now I've put everyone in danger. Especially Gale and his family and my family._

_ " Please don't hurt Gale," I whisper. " He's just my friend. He's been my friend for years. That's all that's between us. Besides, everyone thinks we're cousins now."_

_ " I'm only interested in how this will affect your dynamic with Percy, thereby affecting the moods in the districts."_

_ " It'll be the same on tour. I'll show how I still can't get over Percy. Like I always am. I've never gotten over him," I say._

_ " Excellent choice, Miss Everdeen," President Snow says, grabbing his book. " Only you will have to do better if the uprisings are to be averted," he says. " This tour will be your only chance to turn things around."_

_ " I know. I will. I'll convince everyone in the districts that everything that I said was out of grief. That I wasn't defying the Capitol. That I was too wrapped up in grief to notice what I was saying," I say._

_ President Snow rises and dabs his puffy lips with a napkin. " Aim higher in case you fall short," he advises me. _

_ " What do you mean? How can I aim higher?" I ask._

_ " Convince me."_

* * *

_**(END OF FLASHBACK)**_

Haymitch's face sobers, grows older in the glow of the red tail-lights. " Then you can't fail."

" If you could just help me get through this trip – " I began.

" No, Katniss!" he cuts me across, a weird, manic light in his eyes. " It's not just about this trip."

" What do you mean?"

" Even if you pull it off, they'll be back in a few months to take us all to the Games. You will be mentors now, every year from here on out. And every year they'll revisit the romance and broadcast the details of your private life, and you'll never, ever be able to do anything but life miserably ever after, mourning over that boy!"

I stare at him as his words sink in. I will never have a life with Gale, even if I want to. I will never be allowed to marry someone else. I will have to be forever in love with Percy, not that I am complaining but it tends to get lonely. Especially once I am no longer living with my mother and Prim. But the Capitol will insist on it.

" Do you understand me?" Haymitch presses on.

I nod. He means there's only one future , if I want to keep those I love alive and stay alive myself. I'll have to live the rest of my life alone, insisting that I am still mourning the death of my love even though I'll probably have moved on at that time.

This is going to be complicated.

* * *

_***Valyrel - a type of drug designed to calm you down first before knocking you out flat. If administered in small doses, you'd be unconscious for a few minutes, an hour max. If administered in large doses...well..**_

**A/N : **_SO…crappy chapter, I know. Sorry again for the long absence. Just had so much to do. And now and full out, I am officially announcing it : KATNISS EVERDEEN IS OOC. I know, I know. It's just…the book-Katniss and my-Katniss just doesn't seem to click together you know. I'm trying to make the story less depressing than the books by making Katniss more funnier, more sarcastic. So yeah, I apologize in advance to you guys who are going to point out that she is OOC because yeah._

_Cheerio._


	6. Chapter V

**A/N: **_So, I guess last chapter was more acceptable than before. And uh…sorry about the wait. Please don't kill me..O.o oh, and I'm sorry again. This chapter was supposed to be uploaded last night but my Internet hates me so...yeah._

**makerboy13 : **_:P I'm glad you liked the previous chapter. yeah…I can't wait for him to explain his unique situation.  
_**ArianaandXaia : **_Finally! Someone who gets me! Thank you! *hugs* oh, yes. They are going to be more than p***ed off. :)  
_**awesomeness : **_I noticed. Here *hands over virtual hugs* :)  
_**Mistake Experience : **_Another PercyXKatniss? O.o Mind=Blown!  
_**Melissa : **_Here you go! :) _

**Attached Note : **_I think I am disappointing a lot of people right now. I am really sorry but I'm super busy now. I just found out my flight date (16__th__ October) and classes start on the 19__th__. So, if this story is slow, I am terribly sorry. _

**Disclaimer : **_If I were the actual authors, why would I be writing on when I could be attending signing events?_

* * *

**(And now, back to the Everdeens' residence)**

**Percy's POV**

Oh, Styx.

Oh, Styx.

Oh, _STYX_!

Prim gasps, the plates she was holding fell and breaks into smithereens. " Percy?" she says, staring at me.

I glance at my reflection in the window by the sink and (again) curse myself, wondering how I could actually forget about the (admittably flimsy) disguise. Annabeth is kneeling next to the unconscious Mrs. Everdeen, checking her pulse.

" Hey, Prim," I say after a long awkward silence. " How's it going?"

She bursts into tears and next thing I know, she has her arm wrapped around my midriff and the front of my shirt is slowly and steadily getting wet from her tears. I return her hug and pat her on the head, trying my best to comfort her.

" I I knew it was you," she sobs, pulling away to look at me. " Even with the stupid blue dye and all. I just knew it!" She stops blabbering for a minute, a confused look crawls on to her face. " Wait, but you…Percy, you _died _in the arena. We saw you dying. We heard your cannon go off." She stares at me. " How can you still be alive?"

" Well…I..uh…um…" I scratch my forehead. " I really don't know how to explain because it's extremely complicated. Not to mention confusing and all."

She didn't say anything after that. We just stood there, hugging each other until someone clears their throat. I grin at Annabeth. She just rolls her eyes and shakes her head, smiling slightly. After a few moments, Mrs. Everdeen regains her consciousness, moaning as she holds her head.

" Prim?" she calls out, her eyes still closed. " Prim? Where are you?" Prim lets go of me and hurries to her mother's side. Annabeth gets to her feet and moves out of the way, opting to stand next to me with her arms crossed. " Prim?"

" I'm here, Mother," Prim says, her tone reassuring. " What is it?" she asks, brushing Mrs. Everdeen's hair out of her face.

" I had the most confusing dream," she says, opening her eyes. " I dreamt that Percy is alive and in our house. Silly of me," she says, laughing slightly.

And then her gaze fell on us.

* * *

" I am so sorry, ma'am," Annabeth says, holding Mrs. Everdeen's hand. " We didn't mean to just show up and cause chaos and all. It's just…"

" Too complicated ," I say, finishing the sentence for Annabeth. " Yeah. It is extremely complicated," I tell her, sitting at the edge of her bed, " and confusing for us too."

She's still in shock, actually. She couldn't say anything for the past hour. All she could do is just stare at us and then shakes her head and then shakes Prim by the shoulder. Over and over again. It's pretty funny actually, since I usually see Mrs. Everdeen serious. But I can't actually laugh out loud since I could get hit by Annabeth. Or Mrs. Everdeen herself.

When she still couldn't regain her composure, I decided to get up. " Um…Annabeth, I think we'd better go and come back later. I'm not sure if we should - "

" No!" Mrs. Everdeen gasps, grabbing my arm. " Don't go! Stay please," she says softly. " Don't leave us again." I hesitate. " Please," she pleads, her blue eyes imploring. Oh, I hate it when people give me the big eyes.

" I'm not going to '_die_' on you guys again. I'm just going to give you some time and space to..uh…digest the fact that I'm not dead yet," I say, glancing at Annabeth, who sat quietly on the floor next to Mrs. Everdeen for the last hour. " Can I do that?"

" Where are you going to sleep tonight?" she asks Annabeth, running her fingers through Annabeth's golden locks.

" Back in the woods, maybe?"

" So that's how you got that cold," Prim pipes in, pushing me back on to the bed. " I guess that settles it. You two should stay here for the night." I start to protest but she pinches my cheeks. " Listen to me or I will make sure you suffer," she threatens, trying to sound mean and scary but failing miserably. " Please?" She puts on the puppy face.

" Fine," I give in. " You got me with your puppy face and all," I shake my head. Prim cheers and hugs me tightly. " Okay, okay. You can let go now." She doesn't. "Prim? Can't. Breathe."

" You will have to explain everything tonight over dinner," Mrs. Everdeen says, getting up from the bed. " I will prepare your favourite meal tonight, okay?" She caresses my face as she passes me and I immediately remember my own mother. Somewhere in the past, in New York. Sick with worry.

" Yeah. That would be awesome," I nod. She smiles and then disappears to the kitchen.

* * *

So.

Dinner for tonight : some katniss salad (sorry, Katniss), roasted turkey and some mashed potatoes mixed with some herbs. Really delicious.

" You're the girl from District Six," Prim suddenly says.

I choke on my salad.

" Excuse me?" Annabeth asks, surprised. " The girl from District Six?"

" You were in the Games too," Prim explains. " Now that I've gotten over the surprise that Percy is still alive, I finally remember where I've seen you."

" I was in the Games too," Annabeth repeats, sounding surprised. " And I died in it, too. Who got to me?"

" Um…" Prim hesitates. " I'm not sure if I should tell you but..uh…um…Percy."

" You don't know who got to me?" Annabeth asks, her eyebrows raised. " I thought you watched the whole Games."

" She just answered, Annabeth," I say, feeling a bit nervous. " Um…I did." She stares at me, her grey eyes stormy and is scaring the monkeys out of me. " But let's just forget about it. It was just in a dream and besides, you should be thankful because I – "

" How can you kill me?" she demands, looking extremely furious. I open my mouth to protest but she's on a roll now. " I mean, you can't even _disarm_ me at sword fighting and yet you managed to _kill_ me in the Hunger Games? That is like close to impossible!"

" Yeah," I say drily. " I appreciate your envy to my awesome sword fighting moves. And I _always _beat you at it!"

" No, you don't!"

" Yes, I do!"

Prim laughs at our banter and Mrs. Everdeen shakes her head. " Katniss would be delighted if she knew you're still alive and well, Percy," she says, caressing my face. " She wasn't much of herself after you… 'died'."

" We were all a wreck, actually," Prim says. " It was pretty quiet when you were gone. I mean, usually we would wake up hearing you singing at the top of your voice and your stomping and banging around the house."

Silence.

" So, Percy," Mrs. Everdeen says, putting her fork and knife down. " You say you have something to tell us."

" Right," I say, feeling nervous. " Um…well. I'm not sure if you are going to believe me or not but I am not a full human," I start. They both stare at me as if I'm an alien. Which, technically I am since I am from a different time. " Um…"

" Are you familiar with the old Greek or Roman myths?" Annabeth asks them, pushing her clean plate away. " I'm sure you guys are since your country is named after the Latin word for bread and…uh.." That's the first time I've ever seen her uncertain. " You don't understand me."

" No."

" Not really."

Annabeth and I look at each other.

" Well. This is harder than I thought," I say, helping myself to more wild turkey. " How about this? You guys just accept the fact that I am well and alive and here and we can all go and lead our normal lives." They all stare at me. " What?"

" Percy," Annabeth shakes her head. " You really are a Seaweed Brain. They watched you die and then get buried and now you're suddenly here. And you say 'let's go back to our normal lives?'"

" What's wrong with that?" I demand.

Prim and Mrs. Everdeen laughs. " Still the same Percy," Prim says, smiling the angelic smile that somehow makes me ache for something.

" Percy? Are you okay?" Someone touches my arm.

" What?"

" You were clenching your fists as if you were in pain or something," Annabeth says, worry is etch clearly on her face. " Is it your chest or something?"

" What's wrong with his chest?" Mrs. Everdeen asks, suddenly worried. " Is it at the spot where you got stabbed?" She gets up and bends over me, pulling my shirt over the ugly scar. " Oh."

" Yeah," I say, feeling a little bit uncomfortable. " A little souvenir from the Games. This ugly scar is going to make all the girls run away in horror."

" Good thing you're stuck with me," Annabeth says, gripping my hand. " I'm your 'wife', right?"

" Is that true?" Prim asks. " That the both of you are married?" We both look at each other and burst out in hysterical laughter. " So that was a hoax. Should've known," she grumbles.

" Hey, Prim," I say after we're done laughing. " Is there someone else missing from the picture? Someone I should know but can't remember? Because I don't remember a lot of things when I woke up on the ship with a bad headache and an ugly scar."

" I don't get you," she says.

" I mean, when you smiled, you reminded me of someone. Someone I loved and cared so much that I would probably die for them. They seem familiar to me but I just can't find a name and a face."

Prim stares at me for a minute and then dashes off to the living room and appears seconds later with framed picture in her hands. " Percy, what do you remember about your life before the Games?"

" Not much," I shrug. " I remember living with you guys for a couple of months. That's how I found you. And….," I thought for a moment. " No. That's just about it."

" Percy," Prim says, leaning in. " You don't remember you had a sister?"

" I..I had a sister?"

* * *

**A/N :**_ So…again, a quite short chapter. Sorry but it's pretty hectic now. And writer's block, let's not forget about that. *sigh* So, any feedbacks, suggestions, pointers? Review, then. And if you think you've got some great ideas to share with me, don't hesitate to PM me._

_Oh, and when you review, say whose side you're on : PercyXAnnabeth or PercyXKatniss. I could make a poll but I'm pretty much too lazy to do it..which is weird. _

_My name (Bautista) got mentioned in Law and Order : SVU (S14) Weeeewoooo….lol_


	7. Chapter VI

**A/N : **_Surprise! Am I the only one who actually responds to reviews one by one or am I not? Because I think these long A/Ns are bound to make you guys bored of me…_

**ArianaandXaia : **oooh..breaking the rules, eh? lol..jk..oh, nuts. PercyXAnnabeth or PercyXKatniss? Tough choice, tough choice. :) Sorry you had to wait forever. Here's a treat for you!  
**Pollex : **Yeah..I know..and I don't think I should tarnish the beautiful relationship Percy and Annabeth have.  
**Person910 : **Ooookay..o.o  
**Guest : **Okay..:)  
**Awesomeness : **O.o This is gonna be a tough decision for me. Well, you can't exactly blame him. :) It's all because of me! lol…  
**Melissa : **You read my first story? O.o Yeah…he forgot about his sister. Uh…don't you mean PercyXKatniss? Because you said you wanted to see Annabeth jealous. Or did you mean you _don't_ want to see Annabeth jealous? 0.0 btw, thanks! :P  
**ronnie07 : ** Yeah…I do try to update regularly. But there's this thing called 'writer's block' that annoys the cat out of me! :) And AnnabethXGale? Uh….o.o  
**Mistake Experience : **I don't think it was a great chapter…o.o but I love you for still reading it anyways.  
**The Red Reader of Doom : **Alrighty then…:)  
**makerboy13 : **I'm happy to know you enjoyed it. :)

**Stats : Percabeth : **2 **Perniss : **6 **Undecided : **2

**Attached Note: ** So…don't kill me when you read this : I'm actually rooting for Percy and Katniss. Is that weird? I don't know but I find it easier to write Percy and Katniss than Percy and Annabeth. What do you guys think? Oh, and just asking for your opinions : should I delete my other stories? It's been ages since I last updated them.

**Disclaimer : **_If I am Rick Riordan, the OTP would be Percy and Annabeth. If I am Suzanne Collins, the OTP would be Katniss and Peeta. But right now, the OTP is leaning towards Percy and Katniss. _

* * *

**Katniss' POV**

**(I think I'll just skip the District Eleven scenes since I'm sure you guys wouldn't want to read a retelling of the series)**

My speech at the victor's ceremony in District Eleven was a disaster.

Let's recap :

I get on the stage. There's some loud applause, but not the same response I got at the Capitol, where I got a lot of cheers and wolf-whistle and whoops. I get handed a microphone. Spotted Rue and Thresh's family. Somehow forgot that I'm on stage until Haymitch poked me in the back. The mayor gives a speech in my honor. Two little girls come up with tremendous bouquets of flowers. I opened my mouth and someone gets shot.

Oh, not me.

An old man. Yeah. An old man.

Have a guess why.

No?

This was my speech, well, the last of my speech :

" _I want to give my thanks to the tributes of District Eleven._" (cue looking at Thresh's family – an old, hunched woman and a tall, muscular sister who I suppose is his sister) "_I only ever spoke to Thresh one time. Just long enough for him to spare my life. I didn't know him, but I always respected him. For his power. For his refusal at playing the Games on anyone's but his own terms. The Careers wanted to team up with him at the beginning, but he wouldn't do it. I respected him for that."_ (cue the old woman – his grandmother, maybe? – looks up and a small trace of a smile playing on her lips. At this point, the crowd was so quiet that you would think that all of them had stopped breathing)

(cue I turn to Rue's family) "_But I feel as if I did know Rue, and she'll always be with me. Everything beautiful brings her to mind. I see her in the yellow flowers that grow in the Meadow by my house. I see her in the mockingjays that sing in the trees. But most of all, I see her in my sister, Prim. Thank you for your children. And thank you all for the bread._"

Not a shoot-an-old-man-to-death worthy.

Nope.

But it was because the old man whistled Rue's four-note mockingjay tune. The one that signaled the end of the workday in the orchards. The one that meant safety in the arena. By the end of the tune, I located the old man. His eyes met mine. And then BOOM! Everyone gave me the three-finger salute, the sign from District 12, the last goodbye I gave Rue in the arena. If I hadn't spoken to President Snow, this gesture might move me to tears. But his orders are still fresh in my mind. Heck, I still can smell the scent of roses and blood from him. And that was enough to scare the monkeys out of me. What would he think of this very public salute to the girl who defied the Capitol?

Like I said, it wasn't in my agenda to elicit an uprising. But every single thing that comes out of my mouth is wrong. Every single thing I do is wrong. I don't know what I should do. It's like back in the Games when Rue and I was trying to take out to Careers food supply. Every step I would have to take meant that I would be closer to death.

And that's not even the worst of it.

Even without me opening my big mouth, you can feel something in the air. Something that I can't actually put into words, though the closest thing I could use to describe this feeling is the rolling boil of a pot about to run over. But it's not everywhere. Some crowds have the weary-cattle feeling that I know District 12 usually projects at victors' ceremonies. But in others – particularly 8, 4 and 3 – there is genuine elation in the face of the people at the sight of me and under the elation – fury. When they chant my name, it is more of a cry of vengeance rather than cheer. When the Peacekeeper moves in to quiet an unruly crowd, it presses back instead of retreating. And I know that there's nothing I can do to change this. No show of love, however believable, will turn the tide. If my threats were an act of temporary insanity, then these people will happily embrace insanity.

By the time we reach the Capitol, I am desperate. I make endless appearances to adoring crowds. There is no danger of an uprising here, among the privileged whose name are never placed in the reaping balls, whose children never die for the supposed crimes committed generations ago. I don't need to convince anybody in the Capitol of our love but hold to the slim hope that we can still reach some of those we failed to convince in the districts. Which is pretty pathetic of me, really. Because whatever I do now seems a little bit too little. A little bit too late.

That night, on the stage before the Training Centre, I make my way through a list of questions. Caesar Flickerman, in his twinkling midnight blue suit, his hair, eyelids and lips still dyed in the same powder blue, flawlessly guides me through the interview. When he asks me about my future, I remembered what Haymitch said.

" How can I even think to marry someone else when Percy is still in my heart?" I ask him quietly, my voice choking a bit. " I'm not sure, Caesar. It's still pretty hard to accept the fact that he's not here with me."

Caesar nods, wiping a tear from his eyes. " I'm sure the whole of Panem is with you in mourning the loss of someone you dearly love."

" I hope so," I say, plastering a smile on. " It feels good when someone is there for us. Supporting us."

" Katniss," Caesar suddenly says. " I hear President Snow has a surprise for you."

" A surprise for me?" I ask, panic clenches my throat. " Oh!" I say, putting on my cheerful mask (yet again) when the man himself appears on the stage. " This is a lovely surprise!" This is a horrible nightmare!

" My deepest regrets on the death of your beloved, Miss Everdeen," he says as he embrace me, enfolding me in the smell of blood and roses. " My thoughts will always be dominated by his memory," he adds as he plants a puffy kiss on my cheek. Yeah, I thought, so will be the ways of 'How to eliminate Katniss Everdeen'. He pulls back, a smile on his face, his fingers digging into my arms, a cold look in his eyes.

I dare to raise my eyebrows to ask something my lips can never ask : _Was that good enough? Have I managed to defuse many sparks in the districts?_

In answer, he gives an almost imperceptible shake of his head.

* * *

The banquet, held in the President's mansion, has no equal. The forty-foot ceiling has been transformed into the night sky, and the stars look exactly like they do at home. I suppose they look the same from the Capitol, but who knows? There's always too much light in the city to see the stars here. About halfway between the floor and the ceiling, musicians float on what appears to be fluffy white clouds, though I can't see what is holding them aloft. Traditional dining tables have been replaced by innumerable stuffed sofas and chairs, some surrounding fireplaces, others beside fragrant flower garden or ponds filled with exotic fish, so that people can eat and drink and whatever they please in the utmost comfort. There's a large tiled area in the center of the room that serves as everything from a dance floor, to a stage of performers who come and go, to another spot to mingle with flamboyantly dressed guests.

But the real star of the evening is the food. Tables laden with delicacies line the wall. Everything you can think of, or even dreamed of, lie in wait. Whole roasted cows and goats still turning on spits. Huge platters of fowl stuffed with savory fruits and nuts. Ocean creatures drizzled in sauces or begging to be dipped in spicy concoctions. Countless cheeses, breads, vegetables, sweets, waterfalls of wine, and streams of spirits that flicker with flames.

I'm hungry.

" I want to taste everything in the room," I say out loud. " I'm going to eat every single thing in this room."

A few Capitol citizens who heard me laughs.

" Even us?" he asks putting a meaty arm around my neck.

" Particularly you," I say, smiling. He guffaws some more, plants a wet kiss on my face (ew) before lumbering off to his friends. " Okay, no more than one bite each dish," I mutter to myself as I near the tables. " Remember that."

" That's quite impossible to do, actually," a voice on my right says. I turn to the owner of the voice and nearly drop my plate. " Um..are you okay?"

" _Percy_?" I squeak.

He looks puzzled for a minute before realization dawns on him. " Oh, I can assure you I am not Percy Jackson, Katniss," the green-eyed boy who looks so much like Percy says. " Trust me, you aren't the first and you are definitely not going to be the last to think I am Percy."

" But…but…"

" My name's Harry. Harry Potter."

* * *

**A/N :**_Surprise! :)_

_I think I'm gonna stop writing fanfictions after this. No, don't worry. I won't leave Percy and Katniss hanging without any resolutions. The fanfic for Mockingjay plans have been laid out, the title already decided. Last night, I couldn't sleep because when I watched You May Not Kiss The Bride (which is extremely funny), I kept thinking about arranged marriage. And I got this idea to write about it. I think I fell asleep crying as I imagined the ending. Yeah…I'm horrible that way. XD _

_ Anyway. I've already got a name for the characters. The hero's name will be Theodore Adrian Jades (yeah…I can never let go of that name). But for the heroine, I've been playing a lot with the name 'Callie' so that'll be her nickname. I want to ask you what you guys think of her full name : Callista Genevieve Ames. Callista means beautiful, Genevieve means Women of People and Ames mean Friend. So, her full name would mean " Beautiful Women, People's Friend ", something like that. What do you think? Or should I go with Calliope Anne Duchenne? _


	8. Chapter VII

**A/N: **

**makerboy13 and AchillesSaber : **okay, you'll have to talk to Percy himself.  
**NinjaSquirrel1912 : **I know right! Oh dear…I'm getting a little bit excited myself.  
**hera98 : **Ooooooh….was the scale high? O.o I think three fandoms is enough in one story. If I add another one I might go nuts.  
**ArianaandXaia : **1) I KNOW! I am soo going to be on Annabeth's to-kill list. 2) We should call them 'The Great Katcy'. Get it? XD 3) I just like to make you guys – and Percabeth – suffer. :P 4) I know it's a PJO/HG but seriously , how can you leave the most awesome fandom out? So I figured, Harry should have a role too. How about you be Katniss, the daughter of Apollo? :O  
**The Red Reader of Doom : **here's your answer!  
**PercyJacksonGirl : **honey, I think I made a square triangle….o.o  
**person09 : **I always push a revolving door when I'm at the airport. Seems to make it revolve faster…o.o slamming? Why would you slam a revolving door? People would only say you're nuts and you'd probably get kick out of the place.  
**ronnie07 : **No. Harry is an AU character. I think it would complicate things if he can do magic.

**Attached Note : **I think I'll put off Percy's POV for a while. After all, there's a lot that needs to be explained. :P Oh, and in this story, Harry still has his scar but not his glasses. Oh, and he would be around Percy and Katniss' age.

**Disclaimer : **_Let's see. Yeah..I'm cruel like the real authors. But I'm not published like the real authors._

**Percy:** _to __makerboy13 and AchillesSaber : why would you think I would be in a place full of people who would definitely kill me on sight? I'm not that nuts. And why would I disguise myself? O.o_**_  
_**

* * *

**Katniss' POV**

I think I may have fainted.

**ronnie07 : **No. Harry is an AU character. I think it would complicate things if he can do magic. Also, I think a love square is enough for a story.

Or maybe I just stood there staring at the I-am-not-Percy apparition in front of me.

" You're making fun of me right? You dressed up like up like him on purpose, right? Just to annoy me? Maybe even get some alteration here and there!" I could feel myself getting angry.

He raises his hands in defense. " Whoa!" he says. " I'm telling you the truth! I'm not Percy Jackson! My name is Harry Potter. Look, if you still don't believe me," he pushes his hair from his eyes, revealing a peculiar scar that seems to be in the shape of a lightning. " Seriously. Does Percy have that?"

I stare at him, unable to actually comprehend him. " So…so…"

" I know how much you miss him, Katniss but I assure you, I am not him. I can never be him," Harry Potter says, picking up a plate and laden it with food. " But yeah, aside from the scar, I really do look like him. People always get some sort of epilepsy whenever I go out, thinking I'm Percy Jackson. Quite a bummer really since I can't go and have some fun."

" Oh?"

" Yeah and then some of these really weird people would come up to me and they would ask me if I would like to 'accompany them for the night'. I said, 'What?' and then they would all go, 'You are Percy Jackson, right?' They are all crazy."

I stare at him. " Aren't you?"

" Aren't I what?" he asks, biting into his bread roll.

" Crazy."

He snickers. " My uncle raised me to be a clear-headed person and not be fooled by all this lavishness. Well, maybe not always clear-headed but at least I know how to act normal, speak normal, be normal. Well, as normal as you can get when you're surrounded by nutters every single day for eighteen years of your life."

I laugh. I'm starting to relax around this…Harry Potter. I'm not sure why but he radiates some sort of aura that feels like Percy. It's like there's this sign over him that tells me I can trust him.

" I see you are making fast friends with last Games' victor, Harry," an elderly male voice says from behind us. I turn around and I nearly had another heart attack. " Hello, Miss Everdeen." When I didn't reply, he chuckles. " You look as if I just introduced myself as an alien."

" Psy, Katniss called me Percy just now," Harry tells the man. The man laughs. " Katniss, this is the uncle that raised me to be the sane person I am now. Uh..his name is Psy Done. Psy, as you very well know, this is Katniss Everdeen."

" It's an extreme pleasure of meeting you," Psi Done says, taking my hand and kissing it. " Lovely as always." Crap, I still can't say anything. " Am I too distracting for you?"

" What?"

Harry laughs. " Don't listen to him. He's a womanizer if you must know." Psy Done slaps him on the back. " Anyway," he says, putting down his plate (which still has food on it, by the way). " Would you do the honor of dancing with me?"

" Um…okay."

" And you call me a womanizer!" Psy calls out as we weave through the crowd.

Harry laughs. " I love my uncle. He's the closest thing I can get as a father."

" What happened to your father?" I ask as I let him twirl me around.

" My parents were killed," he says softly. " By our dear, beloved you-know-who." Oh, yeah. Who else? " He hired this really crazy assassin named Tom Riddle who actually lived up to his name by reciting riddles before getting the deed done." Silence. " I was one when they died."

" I'm sorry," I say, feeling a little bit guilty that I treat my mother badly before, when she went into a great depression after my father's death.

" Nah," he says, shaking his head, a smile on his face. " I think that was for the best. If they're still alive, I wouldn't be living with Psy, hence I could not be here dancing with you."

" Why?"

" Psy told me we used to live in District Five. If my parents weren't killed, I'd still be living there, provided that I don't get reaped and then get killed in the arena." I nod in understanding. " When Riddle killed my parents, one of their best friends, Sirius Black was to take me and go into hiding but Riddle got to him first. It was Psy's authority and his connectivity to the Capitol that has kept me alive all these years. If not, I would probably be rotting somewhere underground."

" You have a really interesting background," I say as we dance away.

He shrugs. " I guess it is interesting," he says, twirling me again. And then I caught a sight of Psy.

" Harry," I say. " It's really unnerving to see how Psy looks a lot like Percy. I mean, like you, I might have mistaken you for Percy at first glance but now that I've gotten a better look at you, I realize you don't actually look alike. There are some slight differences like your nose, the scar, your mouth."

He laughs. " Yeah. I'm not as good-looking as Percy."

I smile. " But with Psy, he looks exactly like Percy. The smile, the smirk, the grin, the way he walks or stands. _The way_ _he talks._ It's like looking at Percy himself, only an older version."

" I think you just miss him a lot. That's why you think Psy looks like him," Harry assures me. " And speak of the devil."

" Hello, Harry, Miss Everdeen," Psy says, smiling.

" Katniss," I say.

" Ah…first name basis. I prefer it too." Harry rolls his eyes. " Harry, may I cut in between the both of you? You certainly have monopolized her time. I think you should let the better dancer dance with her."

" Go find someone your age, Psy."

" Alas, they are not as graceful as our Katniss Everdeen."

I giggle. " Okay, Psy Done. I'll dance with you."

Harry makes a face at his uncle before releasing me. " Don't break her heart, Psy. Or I'll break your face," he says, his tone serious but there's this playful twinkle in his eyes.

" Have I ever break any woman's heart?" Psy asks as Harry makes his way back to the refreshment table. Harry waves Psy's comment off before turning his attention to the food. " I noticed you checking me out before."

I could feel blood rushing to my face when he said that. " I wasn't checking you out!" He chuckles. " No, seriously. I wasn't checking you out. I just kept thinking how you look exactly like – "

" Like Percy Jackson?" I nod. He stops waltzing. " Katniss, there's something I need to tell you."

" Okay." I wait for him to tell me that something. " Well?"

" I think it should be done somewhere people would not eavesdrop or hear us," Psy says. I shrug and let him steer me to a corner of the room, near the dessert table. " Might I interest you in some peanut butter and chocolate mousse pudding? It's one of the finest dessert I've ever tasted. That and maybe the caramelized orange cake. So, which one?"

" I'll have a bit of both, I guess," I smile. He nods and scoops a large amount of both desserts into a bowl. " Oh. This is delicious!" I exclaim as the peanut butter melts in my mouth, the taste turning gracefully into chocolate.

" Try the cake," he tells me as he helps himself to the dessert. " It'll explode in your mouth."

And explode it did. Literally. There's this some sort of sugary balls, really tiny that you wouldn't notice it that went BOOM in my mouth. No, don't worry. My face is still intact, though my tongue is a little bit sore now. Not to mention tingly. But the caramelized orange cake, too tasted as if it fell from the sky.

" So, what did you want to tell me?" I ask Psy as we sat on a few empty couches near the table and away from the rest of the crowd. " Sounded pretty important."

He didn't say anything for a while, merely focused on his dessert. It was not until about five minutes after that did he open his mouth. " What do you know about Percy Jackson?" he asks, fixing his green eyes that reminds me so much of Percy. " What do you know about his background?"

That's a weird question. " Um…well, I know that he used to live in the Seam with his mother and sister."

" Wait…his sister?"

" Yeah. His sister, Addy. She died a few months before we volunteered for the Games. He was pretty much a wreck after she died but he didn't actually show it. Maybe sometimes we'd catch him crying or talking to himself. He really missed her. Why are you asking this?" I ask him, an icy feeling clenching my heart. Could it be?

" Katniss, when I noticed you didn't take your eyes off of me, I know you had pieced everything together."

" Pieced _what_ together?" I ask him, feeling extremely annoyed that he's talking in riddles. " Psy, I'm getting really annoyed with you right now."

He stares at me, a look of disbelief on his face. " Why, Katniss. Surely you _have_ thought of it." I glare at him.

" If you won't stop playing riddles with me, I'm going to go now and dance with Harry," I say, getting up.

He grabs my arm. " Katniss, I am Percy's father. And I am positively sure that he is my only child. I didn't have a daughter with Sally."

_PRANG! _

" You cheated on Aunt Amphritite? " Harry asks, a look of horrified mixed with disbelief on his face

* * *

**A/N : **_well, folks .That's the end of this chapter. Big surprise there, huh? *note the sarcasm* I'm sure you guys had figured it out beforehand. Oh, and Psy Done don't have any similarities or connections etc etc with the South Korean singer, Psy. Okay? Okay. So, had fun reading? Review? Have some suggestions? PM me. Hate it? PM me. And I think I'm gonna do a poll. I got lost counting. :P _


	9. Chapter VIII

**A/N: **

**ArianaanXaia:**_ Egypt is….I don't know what to say. Exotic? Exhilarating? Scary? Mysterious? But I'm liking my classes. Most of them.  
_**AchillesSaber : **_Oh, chill. It's cool. My mom told me to go for specialization but I told her I want to be a Forensic. Which would require me another 4-5 years in college for a Law Degree.  
_**angelslaugh: **_That would depend, actually. On my mood. O.o  
_**hera98 : **_I don't know about rocking the school but yeah…so far I'm a surprise to my colleagues.  
_**Guest : **_And I don't know what to say to a very sweet reader like yourself. Except maybe thanks. Yeah, thank you for your kind words.  
_

**Disclaimer : **My grammar is horrible. How would I write a book without grammar mistakes, let alone a whole bunch of series?

* * *

**Percy's POV**

"I had a sister."

Annabeth laughs. " That's impossible. Percy's an only child."

Prim and Mrs. Everdeen exchanged glances. " Percy, you did have a sister. Her name was Addy," Prim says, handing me the photo. " Look!"

I stare at the photo. It is a picture of me, Katniss, Prim, Gale and an unfamiliar yet familiar (see my dilemma?) girl. " This is my sister?" I ask, pointing to the girl. Prim nods.

Annabeth peers over my shoulder, taking a peek at the photo. " I don't think that's his sister, Prim," she says. " I mean, she doesn't even look like Percy."

" She takes after their mother," Mrs. Everdeen says, although she doesn't seem so sure.

" Have you ever met Sally Jackson, Mrs. Everdeen?" Annabeth presses on.

" I may have bump into her once in a while. She used to work in the mines along with my husband. She died in the same explosion that killed my husband too," Mrs. Everdeen says, looking out of the window with a wistful look in her eyes.

" Oh. I'm…I'm sorry," Annabeth says softly. " I didn't mean – "

" It's okay," Mrs. Everdeen say, a small smile on her face. " So, you really don't remember her?" she asks.

" No."

" I wonder why," Annabeth muses, rubbing her chin. " I mean, you remember Prim and her mother and Katniss. Why don't you remember this … Addy who is supposed to be your sister?"

" I'm a Seaweed Brain, Annabeth and you're the Wise Girl."

" That's beside the point."

" I think I know how to make you remember!" Prim suddenly butts in. We look at her. " I'll take you to her grave."

" She's dead?" Annabeth asks, surprised.

" Yeah. She died a few months before the Games. We didn't actually know why but people die all the time here. I'll take you now," Prim says, pushing her chair back and puts her plate in the dishwasher. " We still have sunlight left so –"

" No."

" What?" Prim asks, looking a little bit confused.

" No, Primrose," Mrs. Everdeen says. " You have school tomorrow and our guests need their rest. You can go tomorrow after school."

" Before school?" Mrs. Everdeen purses her lips. " Oh, please, Mother! I want to make Percy remember about Addy! I just can't believe he forgot about her!"

" Okay. But you'll have to get up really early tomorr –" Mrs. Everdeen couldn't finish her sentence on account of how hard Prim squeezed her.

" Thank you,Mother!" she says happily.

" Now, off to bed. All of you," Mrs. Everdeen says, looking at all of us sternly. " Since the both of you are not actually married so Annabeth, you can sleep with Prim in her room. Percy, you can take the guest room," she adds, a twinkle in her eyes.

Oh, man!

* * *

" So this is the graveyard?" I ask as we step over the broken fence.

Prim nods. " This is where most of the people of Twelve who died are buried."

" Is there some other places you bury the dead?" Annabeth asks as she detours around a huge hole in the ground. Probably a grave.

" Some are cremated. Some didn't even get the chance to get buried here," Prim says softly. " Sometimes they died all alone in their houses and by the time the Peacekeepers found their body, they'd be too rotten already so the Peacekeepers usually toss their body into the mines' fire."

" That's…that's horrible!" Annabeth says, a disgusted and horrified look on her face. " Why would they treat a human like that? Like animals?"

" We _are _animals, Annabeth. At least, to them," Prim says, shrugging. " That's why we're pent up in a pen. No communications, no food, no dignity."

" That is just plain disturbing," I say as I trip over a log and fell face first into the mud. " Uh…that's nasty," I spit out the mud. " Is it farther?"

" Nope. We're here," Prim says, stopping at a small grave with a really weather beaten tomb. " This is where Addy rests."

I get up to my feet and inch closer to the grave. The name is still clear on the tomb, despite it being weather beaten. Reading the name etched on it sent shivers down my spine and gave me a headache, as though some sort of memory is forcing its way up.

_Adrastea Kay Jackson  
Born on 15__th__ March  
Died on 12__th__ March_

_Our dead are never dead to us, until we have forgotten them._

"Percy?" I hear Annabeth call out to me. " Percy, are you okay?"

I look up at her, not realizing when I had fallen to my knees.

"Percy," Annabeth calls out to me again, her tone extremely worried now. " Percy, what's wrong?"

" I…I forgot about her," I whisper. " I can't believe I forgot about her." Images of the petite, dark haired girl with grey eyes flash before my eyes. Laughing, crying, joking. " I … I…"Then the memory hits me hard in the chest.

Then, everything went black.

* * *

" This has got to stop," I mutter as Mrs. Everdeen fusses over me.

" What has to stop, Percy?" Prim asks as she hands me a mug full of hot chocolate.

" This!" I say, rolling my eyes. " This..this whole fainting thing!" Prim and Annabeth both giggles. " What are you laughing about?"

" We're not laughing," Annabeth says. " We're giggling."

" Oh, ha ha," I say, throwing my pillow at her. " Very funny."

" So, okay. Percy has a sister. Anything else that I should know?" Annabeth asks Prim as the younger girl snuggles next to me.

" Percy volunteered for the baker's son, Peeta Mellark in the Games. He allied up with the Careers – "

" Careers?"

" The tributes from Districts 1,2 and 4. They are usually trained for the Games," Prim says. " It's against the rules really, but the Capitol hasn't banned them from volunteering or anything. It's like they actually – "

" Prim," Mrs. Everdeen says suddenly, her eyes stern. " Why don't we leave Annabeth and Percy alone? I'm sure she can take care of her just fine."

" Um…"

" Let's go and prepare lunch. I'm sure Percy is hungry after waking up," Mrs. Everdeen says, getting up to leave. " Well, Annabeth. You keep an eye on him, okay? We'll bring his lunch up when it's done. Come along now, Prim," Mrs. Everdeen adds, taking Prim by the arm and steering her out of the room.

" What was that about?" Annabeth asks, as soon as the door closes behind them.

I lean in closer to whisper to her. " The Capitol is a bit on the paranoid field. They're scared that the people of Panem would bring them down so they always monitor the people's daily life, including our conversations."

" Talk about no personal space," she huffs, looking extremely mad that our personal space had been invaded. " _This _is what Gaia wanted to show me? All of this crap about a super paranoid government?"

" I think she wants to show us something else, too," I say, leaning into my pillow. " Poseidon did mention that there is going to be a war in a few years. Maybe that is what Gaia wants to show us?"

" That could be possible," Annabeth says, scratching her chin. " But I don't get it though. You said it was a dream. How could you have a sister in a dream?"

I shrug. " I guess that might be another trick of Hera. Who knows? She always seem to have some sort of trick up her sleeve. Maybe Addy is just another false memory she put in my head, like what she did to Piper."

"Yeah…maybe," she finally says, though there is still worry etch on her face.

I hate that look.

* * *

**A/N: **Sorry for the long absence. Just got my WiFi installed. And I'm pretty busy right now but I just had to finish this one chapter. Anyways, sorry if it's boring. It was more of a filler. So, now you have a theory of why Percy didn't remember Addy. :P So…have any comments? Review. Any suggestions/hate? PM me…


	10. Quick Announcement

Quick announcement, everyone.

I should start with the thanking ceremony first.

**Guest : **:)

**ronnie07: **As flattered as I am with your compliments, my fanfic is not one of the best. I've read far more better fics than mine. But every chapter IS crap, sad to say. I haven't put my best in one for a while. No matter. I will try harder after this. But I love you! :) as a devoted reader, of course.

**The Reader of Doom : **I couldn't bear the thought that I would leave everyone without their closure if I were to abandon it. :) So..yeah..

** : **That's an excellent suggestion. Only thing is, I may have some sort of a surprise for you guys in Mockingjay

**Blimpyloo71: **um…haha…:P

**RAINBOWdewdrops : **aww *hugs* but I'm afraid my fanfic career might be coming to an end. If I do want to continue writing, I might write an original fiction though they always get abandoned. I will try to update but maybe not as frequently as I used to.

**Announcements ! Hear ye, hear ye!**

So…

I had mentioned that this story might either get deleted or receive a massive make over. I'm gonna go with the latter. I won't delete it, I promise. Just to tell you that I am working on **Chapter IX **but I am currently facing several things at once that is hindering me :

Midterms, which is on the 23rd of November.

And the fact that some of you may have lost your faith in me.

I know not all of you had lost your faith in me but yeah…that feeling you get when you know you had disappointed people? Yeaaah…I always have them. That's my fatal flaw : I TRY TO PLEASE EVERYONE, even if it means I won't be happy. Ugh..that sounds so cheesy of me. Haha..

Anyways, our winter break is coming up. Maybe for around 3 weeks or a month. I will try to get as many as possible chapters up. I won't promise, though. It's not nice to make promise when you know you can't keep it, I've been told.

Oh, and let's just hope this bloody writer's block goes away. It's annoying the crap out of me.

Until next time, my lovelies.

Cheerio.


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